We've all heard the term "comfort food", but what you may not know is that the idea of using food to police your emotions is actually harmful, not helpful. Teaching your kid that eating is a necessary reaction to stress, sadness, anger or pain, could potentially establish unhealthy eating habits that are likely to manifest into an eating disorder. In fact, studies have shown that "comfort foods" actually make bad moods, worse. The goal of any parent is to help their child establish a healthy relationship with food, and that can't happen if they learn to replace feelings with cuisine.

Forcing your kid to finish their meal when they're full (or even just claiming they're full) is not only stripping your kid of complete ownership over their body, it's potentially establishing unhealthy eating habits, like over-eating. Obviously you want your kid well-fed, and you want them to be eating something healthy instead of something sweet. However, when you get your kid options (i.e. this is what's available to you, eat what you can) instead of forcing them to eat, you'll lay down a foundation for a healthy relationship with food.

I mean honestly, just why? Rhyming aside, there's absolutely no reason this should ever be said to another human being, and most definitely never to a child. If we allow our society's unrealistic beauty expectations to seep into our kids' psyches via our own fears and self-consciousness, we're setting them up for a lifetime of self-hatred.

Every kid is different, and that definitely includes siblings. Just because one sibling eats at a higher rate than the other, doesn't mean something is wrong with one or both. Furthermore, it's unhealthy to pit two siblings against one another and pointing out that one sibling is doing what you want them to do, but the other isn't, will only aid in your kids becoming mortal enemies who see one another as competition, rather than loving siblings who will always support one another. (Seriously, it happens.)

A child being a "picky" eater is actually a normal stage in their development, so labeling them as "picky" does nothing but make them self-conscious about a very natural and necessary behavior. So, instead of pointing out negative behavior, call attention to the positive. For example, praise your kid for eating what they did consume, and work towards making eating a pleasant experience instead of an anxiety-riddled one.

This is a tough one, I'll be the first to admit. You want to praise your kids for doing well, especially if it means they're eating a substantial amount of food, and especially if that food is of the healthy variety. At the same time, you don't want to establish a pattern that would suggest to your kids that they get praise or adoration every time they over-eat or simply eat more. It's important that children don't learn that quantity is more important than actual appetite, as your appetite can and most certainly does vary from meal to meal. So, instead, why not try praising them every time they eat, regardless.

Using food as a reward can, you guessed it, establish unhealthy eating habits. While food is most certainly a treat, it's also a necessity. You actually need it to survive. Studies have shown that people who were raised with food as a reward, were more likely to end up binge-eating and/or extreme dieting.

Bottom line: food isn't something you should get for being "good". Food is something you should have because you need to have it. It's not something you should restrict until you accomplish that one thing or acquire that other thing.

There are no "bad" foods. There are foods that are "unhealthy" and there are foods that don't have as many benefits as others, but they're not inherently "bad". It's especially detrimental to describe sweets or notoriously satisfying food as "bad", as you're essentially telling your child that pleasure (their pleasure, more specifically) is bad. The last thing you want to do is establish a sense of judgement around the act of eating. So, instead of telling your kid a food is "bad", you can explain to them that there are some foods you can always eat, and some foods you save for special occasions.

Describing a food as "gross" around your kid, is undoubtably going to shape how they feel about that particular item. You might not appreciate carrots or spinach, but in order to establish healthy eating habits for your kid, you have to mimic them yourself. Telling your kid that something is "gross", or saying something is gross around them, will stifle their curiosity and keep them from branching out and trying new foods from different cultures. (And, I mean, trying new meals is easily the best part about eating.)

Teaching your kid to "count calories" by establishing how long they would have to work out or "be outside" or "run around" to combat whatever it was they put into their body, is just not healthy. It's no secret that kids need exercise, and it's no secret that kids need food. They don't have to be constantly cognizant of how many calories they're consuming or how much weight they're gaining; that's the bi-product of a shallow culture that cares about appearance more than it cares about health.

The days of establishing outdated gender stereotypes are over, my friend. A feminist mother is never going to tell her children that women, and only women, are responsible for creating meals or serving meals or cleaning up after meals. Everyone has to eat, so everyone (gender be damned) needs to learn how to provide for themselves, cook for themselves, and eat well for their specific and wonderfully unique body.